The Osceola times., 1887-06-11

""hy "cHt 10 Deu again.
"hen the banging once more com.
meneed and was kept up at brief In.
'erVals for an hour. The next niobt
gave repetition of the performance
ana also the next. The morning after.
tired OF this monotonous entertain.
ment' the gentleman decided to move
ana went out TO hunt for another
house. For some of those reasons
which married ,ien are so often called
upon 70 explain-though never entirely
satisfactorily-he was detained by busi.
ness downtown, and the time for the
evenings amusement had arrived be-
fore he returned home.
About eleven o'clock. when every
one eise was asleep, the lady of the
mousse from her room upstairs, heard
the parlor door creak. Summoning all
her courage, she rushed out into the
hall, and looking over the baluster, she
saw the figure of what appeared to be
child three or four wears
of age swoop down, head first, from
some unknown hiding-place, and with
both hands violently slam the door
shut. The infant was clad in a single,
flowing garment Of spotless white, and
Its form and features were plainly visi-
BILE, The lady did what almost any
other lady would have done in like
circumstances-screamed and tainted
away. her last recollection Of the af-
fair being that of seeing the infantile
apparation vanish into ethereal moth
ingness. Her husband arrived upon the
scene just in time to hear her scream,
and soon had her restored to con nscious-
ness. But her terror was such that she
refushed to stay in the house another
night. And she didn't. Another place
had been secured, and the family mov-
ed the next day. But the story was told
in the neighborhood, and for long
time the dwelling was empty. No one
would live in house where there was
positively one ghost and possibly two
one on each side of door.
One Of the most remarkable Of these
old-time ghosts was that of the phos-
phorescent mule that roamed over the
city lnorth of Thirty-first street and
south of Twenty-second, a territory at
that date almost barren of dwellings.
This animal had browsed the prairie
grass, observed by few. for some time,
and those few described him as being
unlnistakably mule, but havinga de.
gree of luminosity that enabled him to
be seen to great distance. No ons
had the temerity to attempt to ap-
proach him, for it was easy to see that
it was no earthly mule, but undeniably
and unquestionably an Internal mule.
But there was one gentleman in the
vicinity who ridiculed and scoffed at
this mongIpl spectcr, and declared that
it was only the creature of imagination
distorted by over-indulgence in the ex-
hilarating fluid of the period, denomi.
mated ginandsugar. 1t was to this
gentleman that befell the somewhat
singular incident herewith related -
doubtless intended as a salutary illus
tration of the punishment that awaits
all scoffcrs. He had been out in the
southern suburbs one afternoon look
ing over some lands, and at a wayside
inn had met some gentlemen residing
thereabouts, talked over the land, and
remained to supper. IL was toward
eleven O'Clock before the prospective
value of the land had been decided
upon, and the parties started home
ward. From 3lst to 22d street was
then only a barren stretch of low,
waste land. As the gentleman was
crossing this, under the pale moon
light, deeply thinking Of future for
tunes in that same tract Of land, he be-
came sensible of sort of "uncanny"
feeling, and, on looking up, TO his in
tense astonishment, not 10 say terror,
he saw the luminous mule approaching
him at a rapid gait. Petriticd by his
mingled emotions he stood speeches..
The spectral animal came, stood before
him, and in n firm and decisive tone
said "Mountr' Well knowing that he
who hesitates is lost, he tremblingly
obeyed.
A furious ride began, kept up till
nearly across the stretch. when he be-
gan TO be sensible of some extraordi-
nary change. His feet touched the
ground and he drew them up. The
canter had been transformed into sort
of lope, which gradually settled into n
broken trot; the hair had become WOOL
IL was no longer mule-it was a
sheep! Bewildered beyond conception,
he seized the animal by the ears and
held on. A few PAGES farther and there
was another transition. The wool be-
came long, curling hair, and instead of
hoof-beats he heard the patter of cush-
ioned feet II was not n sheep-it was
n Newfoundland dog! In sheer despair
he flung himself to the ground. the an
imal gave quick, angry bark and van
ished. The gentleman arose, looked
around, and found himself at his own
door.
For days he was gloomy and silent;
but finally he told the story, and, as he
was II church deacon and man of
great veracity, it can not be doubted.
But the luminous mule was seen no
more. There are persons yet living in
Chicago who have seen. or at least
have seen others who have seen, him.
The West Randolph street ghost
came on at a later day. and its history